BabaRahman

Riems

DATE OF BIRTH

1 July 1994

BIRTHPLACE

Tamale

Position

Defender

Baba Rahman is a pacy, attacking full-back who signed for the Blues from German side Augsburg in August 2015.

Baba made his Chelsea debut in a 4-0 Champions League win over Maccabi Tel Aviv at Stamford Bridge and produced a confident, assured display, linking up well with our attacking players. His full league debut came in a home win over Aston Villa in October 2015 and his crossfield pass helped create our opener in an important win over Dynamo Kiev the following month.

In February 2016, with Chelsea missing defenders through injury, he enjoyed his period of greatest involvment yet and particularly impressed in a Champions League knockout stage away game against Paris Saint-Germain. He started every game in the April and by the end of his first season had made 23 appearances.

In August 2016 he moved to Schalke on a season-long loan where he reunited with his former Augsburg boss Markus Weinzierl.

Under him prior to joining Chelsea, Baba helped Augsburg qualify for the Europa League, making 31 league appearances. He made more successful tackles than any other player in the Bundesliga during 2014/15, as well as attempting the highest number of crosses from the left flank.

Baba previously spent two seasons with Greuther Furth in Germany, having been spotted as a youngster with Asante Kotoko in his homeland.

At Schalke, Baba made 15 appearances in the first half of 2016/17 before departing for the Africa Cup of Nations where he suffered a cruciate ligament injury in his knee, bringing an end to his season. Having remained at Chelsea for his rehabilitation, Baba returned to Schalke in January 2018 for a loan until the end of the 2018/19 season.

International CareerA Ghanaian international, Baba was a member of his country’s Africa Cup of Nations squad as they finished runners-up to Ivory Coast in the 2015 tournament. He was selected for the 2017 tournament in Gabon but in the opening game came off with a serious knee injury.